Coeur de Pirate
Brighton Music Hall
Allston, MA
January 28

On a recent Saturday night in Allston Rock City, the unofficial moniker for the student-centric town close to Boston where the Brighton Music Hall resides, a mixed young and old crowd made their way to the aforementioned Hall for a bit of a cross-cultural experience. Whether heading over for tender-ish, girl-lead pop-rock stylings or a French (-Canadian) language refresher, fans packed the moderate-size venue to see Coeur de Pirate, a recent francophone mini-sensation, and opening act Hannah Christianson, a locally-based singer-songwriter, keyboardist and Berklee College of Music student.

Coeur de Pirate, or “pirate heart,” generally pleased while just singing or singing and playing keyboard in front of a four-piece band, which included Rénaud Bastien, rhythm guitarist here and former member of Montréal rockers Malajube (signed to Dare to Care, a sister label to Coeur de Pirate’s French-language-friendly Grosse Boîte).

She, otherwise known as Béatrice Martin, reeled off 18 songs off her two albums to date – one eponymous and Blonde – despite suffering from the flu. Her under-the-weather status did seem to affect her, her vocals not really taking on full low-note-colored, yet charming childlike force till about half-way through her set.

Handclaps were employed during the night’s opening number, “Verseau,” then it was on to the surf-rock-y “Danse et Danse,” both played with Martin mainly just singing, except on the latter tune, where she hit the final notes of the song on her keyboard. She then announced, in English, that she and her band were “going to do a bilingual show tonight,” adding that this was “my first time in Boston, like ever,” which was followed by loud applause. Truth be told, all songs on the night were in French, except for her cover of Canadian hip-hop artist The Weeknd’s “Wicked Games,” though she used her fluent English to introduce songs and translate whatever she was saying in français.

Next , “La vie est ailleurs” ( “Life is elsewhere” ) was carried by its loping baseline and, this time, Martin on keys throughout. “Ava,” off the new record, sounded like Yann Tierson’s instrumental work on the seminal Amélie soundtrack, a piano played minor-keyed and with ample arpeggios. Despite not having Montréal-based musician Sam Roberts that night to duet on “Loins d’ici” ( “Far from here” ), Martin soldiered through on a number that featured slide guitar and which she introduced as a “country song.” Going along with a more traditional French-Canadian sound, her lead guitarist bowed a violin on a couple of songs mid-way through the evening. She also prefaces one tune – “Le long du large” – by terming it “a Coeur de Pirate classic,” a statement she quickly qualifies by saying “if there is such as thing as that.”

Another track from Blonde, “Place de la République,” is soon performed and concerns her “favorite place in Paris.” The traveling-in-spirit continued in the encore, as Martin started it off by saying “We’re going to travel tonight – to Montréal,” and proceeded to explain that the next song – “Saint-Laurent” – is about a boulevard (also called “La Main” ) that used to separate the English and French-speaking parts of the Québec-province city. The height of the night was up next, as Martin showed off her quiet, mellow soar on “Comme des enfants” ( “Like children” ), probably her most recognizable song to fans; she got the audience (with people waving their lighted cell-phones) to sing the chorus, which translates as “He still loves me, and I love you a little stronger.”

Martin and her band took a bow together at the end at the front of the stage, which had a backdrop of flag-covered clothes-lines, having delighted lovers of Québec-culture and just-plain lovers alike.